Please help! New hamster owner

Cashmere · 03-24-2017, 08:33 PM

Hey guys so I got my hamster Cashmere about 3 days ago at PetSmart. She is a Robo Dwarf and she's obviously really small ( I don't know her age). In her cage at Petsmart she was paired with another female Robo, glass tank, one hiding house (plastic), wheel, food bowl, and water bottle. She was pretty normal by the looks as well very active when i saw her, which made me get her. Now as the days go by I feel like her nose is getting a little swollen by the day (or so i think) and her inner nostrils look red. She is grooming and scratching her face. I can't pick her up because she's still very new and i haven't gotten the chance to tame her. I do have pictures of her face by the way!

Her cage is a 10 gallon tank which I now realize is a tad bit small and ill be switching over to a Billy Ikea cage. Her bedding is CareFresh in the color yellow, but its under my understanding Carefresh is suppose to be one of the best?? so I went to a all natural pet store and picked up a new bedding by OxBow in Natural but haven't gotten the chance to switch it because i don't want to make her more stressed about her surrounding. She is pretty active, eating, drinking water, burrowing and NO sneezing.

One thing i do need to admit is that i did not disinfect any of her new stuff.

I dont know whether to go a vet or not if all i need to do is simply change her bedding and clean her cage out?? Im a new hamster owner please help!! i love her so much already i just want the best for her.

AmityvilleHams · 03-25-2017, 05:59 AM

Carefresh is nowhere near the best,nor is a 10 gallon suitable for any species even a robo(though as you said you're upgrading).

In the US the two best substrates are Kaytee Clean and Cozy(unscented only,the scented varieties are unsafe and the dyed varieties as with any dyed substrate would be questionable),and Oxbow Pure Comfort.Both of which have far less dust than Carefresh and are more suitable substrates overall for that reason

You're much better off doing a cage cleaning than leaving her to develop some sort of illness,but you could also just upgrade the cage at the same time rather than bothering with the 10 gallon.

cypher · 03-25-2017, 08:10 AM

It's hard to see what the problem might be from the photo, I know it can be hard to get photos of robos, it doesn't sound like a problem with her substrate, carefresh is ok, if she had a problem like an allergy you would be seeing more symptoms like sneezing or itching & scratching.
As you've had her such a short time I wouldn't clean or disinfect anything without good reason, if it continues to get swollen I would take her to the vet rather than trying to guess what the problem is & just upsetting her.
She may have caught it on something or had a bit of a fight before you got her & had a slight injury that may have got infected & need some antibiotics to clear it up.

chesca_27 · 03-25-2017, 05:42 PM

I can't tell what is wrong from the photo, but if symptoms persist or worsen, it would be best to take her to a vet. Only a vet can properly diagnose and prescribe medication to fix the problem.

A 10 gallon tank is on the small side for a hamster, but not all hamsters are comfortable straight away in a big cage anyway, so it should be ok for the moment. Give her a few weeks to settle in and adjust to her new home before you change her cage. The Ikea Billy would be perfect for a Robo.

Carefresh isn't the best bedding ever, though it's still safe. Keep an eye out for the dust levels. Don't clean her or switch her bedding as this is unnecessary and won't need doing for a few weeks.

Keep us updated and fingers crossed she's ok

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